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Disneyland Republic
|connectedresources = }} The Disneyland Republic is a rapidly growing nation, with a just as rapid growing population. It was established on July 17, 1955. The nation has attracted more than 515 million residents since it was established, and has hosted many important figures, such as presidents, royalty, and other heads of state. History The concept for the Disneyland Republic began one Sunday, when Walt Disney was visiting Griffith Park with his daughters Diane and Sharon. His idea was simple: a nation that all ages, all religions, all backgrounds, and all walks of life could live in harmony. His dream would lie dormant for many years. Walt started to visit other nations for inspiration and ideas for his new nation, documenting what he liked and did not like. Some of these included: the United Kingdom, Nepal, Switzerland, Mexico, and Germany. He soon organized a cabinent, and had that cabinent start working on concepts, but these would grow into a project much larger than could be contained in one state. Walt hired a consultant, Harrison Price from Stanford Research Institute to gauge the area's potential growth. With the report from Price, Disney acquired 160 acres (730,000 m²) of orange groves and walnut trees in Anaheim, south of Los Angeles in neighboring Orange County. That day, Walt decided on making Anaheim his capital city. Difficulties in obtaining funding prompted Disney to investigate new methods of fund raising. He decided to use television to get the ideas into people's homes, and so he created a show named Disneyland which was broadcast on the then fledgling ABC television network. In return, the network agreed to help finance the new nation. For the first five years of its existence, the Disneyland Republic's government was ran by Disneyland, Inc., which was jointly owned by Walt Disney Productions and ABC. In 1960 Walt Disney Productions purchased ABC's share. U.S. Route 101 (later Interstate 5) was under construction at the same time the Disneyland Republic was being planned, just to the north of the capital building; in preparation for the traffic which the Disneyland Republic was expected to bring, two more lanes were added to the freeway even before the nation was established. July 17, 1955 Disneyland Republic was established on Monday, July 18, 1955. However, a special "International Press Preview" event was held on Sunday, July 17, 1955 at the capital building which was only open to invited guests and the media. The Special Sunday events, including the dedication were televised nationwide and anchored by three of Walt Disney's friends from Hollywood: Art Linkletter, Bob Cummings, and Ronald Reagan. The event did not go smoothly. The park was overcrowded as the by-invitation-only affair was plagued with many of the public passing as media. All major roads nearby were empty. To make matters worse, the temperature was an unusually high 101°F (38°C), not satisfying many foreign dignitaries. The nation got such bad press for the event day that then-president Walt Disney invited members of the press back for a private "second day" party. Walt and his 1955 executives forever referred to the first day as "Black Sunday", although July 17 is currently acknowledged by the nation as the official dedication day. On July 17 every year, many nation residents wear pin badges stating how many years it has been since July 17, 1955. For example, in 2004 they wore the slogan "The magic began 49 years ago today." But for the first ten years or so, the Disneyland Republic did officially state that opening day was on July 18, including in many local publications. Category:Disneyland Republic